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2019 Los Angeles Kings Top 25 Under 25: #24, Mikey Eyssimont

Our seventh annual Top 25 Under 25 countdown has begun! The rankings were determined by a combination of reader voting and our staff’s own voting. We then combined the reader rankings and the staff rankings to determine the top 25. To be eligible for the countdown, a player must be 24 or younger on October 2, 2019, when the 2019-20 NHL season begins.


Let’s run it down: prospect gets drafted in the later rounds by the Los Angeles Kings, prospect shows some nice development, prospect gets passed up by more highly-touted players, and then… ____________________________?

In our Top 25 Under 25 series so far, that blank has been “fall from #14 in the countdown to the bottom end of it.” Markus Phillips (who came in at #25 this year) was #14 in the 2017 countdown, and Mikey Eyssimont was #14 last year. Of course, the Kings’ pipeline has gotten pretty crowded in the last couple years, so there’s nothing wrong with dropping after a fairly uneventful AHL debut. You probably learned more about Eyssimont’s off-ice life last season, as he spoke about his experiences with Crohn’s Disease, than his on-ice abilities. His on-ice abilities certainly are there, though.

The immediate problem for Eyssimont, who was a fifth-round pick back in 2016? We’ve seen that for LA’s NCAA forwards, that last blank is often “prospect runs out of time and starts over elsewhere.” The Kings have seen forwards such as Michael Mersch and Jonny Brodzinski head for greener pastures after failing to break through with the big club. Even Nic Dowd, who showed flashes of excellence and got to play 70 games in his rookie year in LA, couldn’t solidify a spot with the Kings.

Eyssimont’s situation might be even more pressing than those of the three players (and two other Huskies) above, though. Mersch, Brodzinski, and Dowd didn’t have to battle first-rounders to work their way onto the Kings’ roster. Then again: Eyssimont, who switched from center to left wing during his freshman year at St. Cloud State, is now almost exclusively a winger. The Kings had seven picks in the first two rounds of the NHL Draft between 2017 and 2019, and they used the first five on centers. It’s certainly possible that guys like Jaret Anderson-Dolan end up on the wing too, but Eyssimont won’t be squeezed out if he puts up prolific numbers with the Ontario Reign.

So far? Eyssimont hasn’t really gotten the opportunity to fill up the scoresheet. He was close to an everyday player in his first season with the Reign, but he was generally confined to third- and fourth-line duties alongside players on AHL-only contracts. His most common linemates were guys like Sam Herr and Kyle Bauman, Ontario stalwarts who are in the lineup every night but don’t score all that often. The bottom six might not be the worst spot for him on an NHL team, as though he has hands that are capable of magic…

… he’s generally made his bacon near the front of the net. Next season, though, he’ll hope for more diverse on-ice opportunities with Ontario. Eyssimont turns 23 just before training camp, and though he’s not ready to appear with the LA Kings quite yet, he might get PP/PK chances, shifts with higher-upside players, and increased playing time next season. If he cuts down on penalties (47 PIM in 63 games) and ups the goals and assists (10 of each), he’ll get to stick around.

Eyssimont didn’t get too many votes from the readers, but his St. Cloud State bona fides were enough to get him respect from our writers. Having said that, Eyssimont hits RFA status next year; he’ll need to start showing what he’s got in the tank, or he might not be on this countdown next year.

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